


Offerings and Songs

by Jathis



Series: Rome [10]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Rome, Fluff, M/M, Prayer, Religion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-13
Updated: 2016-06-13
Packaged: 2018-07-14 18:16:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7184894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jathis/pseuds/Jathis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Emperor's brother has a friend in the artisan slave Matt</p>
            </blockquote>





	Offerings and Songs

The Emperor’s little brother was part of a mindless cult. The Emperor tolerated the cult only because it was his brother. Anyone else would have been punished. A small temple and altar was built on the grounds a little after his little brother’s rescue from his captors. It was all just a way to placate the blind man, nothing more. No sensible Roman would dare be caught entering the temple or offering praise to his Goddess.

That was what some of the residents of the palace said anyway. Matt often bristled at their words, barely able to restrain himself from lashing out at them. The lashes on his back however would throb dully, reminding him of the punishment for his behavior. He endured their words in silence before storming back to his workshop to vent, kneading the fresh clay a little harder than was needed.

He kept this to himself however. He did not wish to upset the blind man with talk about him from those who would do him harm in the palace. He sat with him, singing to him at times whenever Techie asked it of him.

Today he sat in the garden with him. He watched as Techie collected flowers, starting to braid them together into a chain. “What is that for?” he asked.

“It is an offering,” Techie explained.

“An offering?”

“For the service tonight.”

Matt frowned to himself. What kind of Roman Goddess demanded flowers as offerings? “Why?” he finally asked.

Techie just chuckled, standing up when he was finished with the chain. He held out a hand to Matt, waiting politely until the other offered him his arm before hugging him closer to himself. “Walk with me and I will speak to you of Her,” he promised.

The blonde man walked beside the other, listening as Techie spoke of the Goddess Clementia. She seemed to be favored among the persecuted and enslaved; a Goddess of mercy and forgiveness. He couldn’t help but find that fitting, the Emperor’s Mercy worshiping a Goddess of the same.

The temple was a small structure. It was not nearly as grand or as large as other temples Matt had seen. There was a single statue of a sad looking young woman and a cloth covered altar with a cracked wine bowl resting on top. A crown of old flowers rested on the statue’s head.

Carefully Techie removed the old crown, replacing it with the fresh flowers. “Some people call this a cult,” he said. “I am aware of their words. They think She is beneath them because it is the abused and enslaved who call out Her name. I do not mind it. She is always willing to forgive people and so She asks the same of us.”

Matt was silent, looking down at the offering bowl instead. He frowned to himself. There was no way that offerings could be made without the wine spilling from it.

A new one would need to be made.

* * *

“Give this to your Goddess. It will hold Her wine without dirtying Her altar,” Matt said, pressing the freshly consecrated bowl into Techie’s hands inside of the temple. He had worked on the bowl for several weeks ever since his first time in Clementia’s temple. He had worked hard, throwing away several failed attempts before he was finally satisfied with what he had done. He watched the way the other’s eyebrows rose in surprise, biting his lip as he waited for a response.

“You made this? For Her?”

“I did.”

“You did not have to… I know She is not your Goddess.”

“I wanted to.” He watched the way Techie smiled and he chuckled softly, stepping back. “I must go. I am sure your Goddess would appreciate a proper offering.”

Techie laughed and nodded, turning to the altar with the fresh bowl. He set it down on the cloth and picked up the jug of wine, holding it above his head briefly before lowering it again. “This bowl I fill for you was created by my brother’s gift from a foreign land,” Techie said, pouring red wine into the bowl on the altar. He smiled before setting the jug down, slowly sinking down onto his knees, hands resting on top of them. “He is strong but has gentle hands. He works with clay and molds it into so many intricate objects. He is kind to me. He has a bit of a temper…” Techie laughed softly as he trailed off, shaking his head before resuming, “but he is a kind man. He can sing. He sings to me sometimes when I ask it of him. I think…I think I am starting to have feelings for him. He took a whipping for me and I do not know why. He says he is willing to do it again.”

Techie’s audience was not just his Goddess. Matt had not yet completely left the temple before Techie started to speak to Clementia. The slave stood in the doorway of the temple once again, eyes wide and cheeks burning as he listened to Techie speak about him to the Goddess.

“He has anger in him. I worry about him and his anger. Will you help me? Help me protect him from his own temper? He wants to defend me, his heart is good. Bless him, Clementia, his heart is good.“ Strong hands placed themselves on his shoulders and Techie sat up straight, falling silent.

“You would pray for me? A fool of a slave with a temper who has been passed around from owner to owner because of it?” Matt softly asked.

“You are a good man. It does not matter what you have done before. I care for you either way.” He listened as Matt knelt down beside him, their shoulders brushing against each other.

“I do not know how to pray to your Gods,” Matt confessed, “I sing when I pray to mine.”

“I am sure She would not object to hearing your voice,” Techie assured him with a warm smile.

Matt hesitated a moment, eyes flicking up at the statue once more. Slowly he opened his mouth and he started to sing, both to the Goddess and the kneeling man beside him.


End file.
